Name: Long lines greet reopening of Downtown Disney
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Long lines greet reopening of Downtown Disney

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By | | Long lines that would put Space Mountain to shame greeted shoppers returning to Downtown Disney on Thursday morning, July 9 after a nearly four-month closure of the outdoor mall next to Disneyland.Socially distanced, mask-wearing crowds emphatically answered the question on the minds of Downtown Disney merchants: Will any shoppers come to the outdoor mall while Disneyland remains closed indefinitely?An endlessly snaking line with parties 6 feet apart wound its way from the entrance of the World of Disney store past the ticket booths, across the esplanade between the two parks, ran in front of the shuttered Disney California Adventure gate and continued to coil as the mall officially opened at 10 a.m. Thursday. World of Disney opened early just after 9:30 a.m. to accommodate the anxious crowd of shoppers.Sign up for our and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks. .SEE ALSO:After hundreds waited in line before the opening, mall foot traffic eased considerably by 1 p.m. By then, the fear of missing out crowd had dissipated and new shoppers slowed to a steady trickle at both security entrances.The mall had been closed since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The return of marks the first stage of Disneyland’s phased reopening plan — only no dates have been announced for those next stages.Disneyland was of its Anaheim theme parks and delay a planned July 23 reopening of two hotels while it awaits theme park reopening guidelines from the state.Disney decided to stick with the Thursday reopening of Downtown Disney after keeping the mall shuttered for more than six weeks since the state allowed shopping malls in Orange County to resume operations in late May. Since then, the state has reinstated prohibitions on indoor dining and closed bars in O.C. back down again amid an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.SEE ALSO:The orderly security checkpoint on Thursday now included a temperature check with a handheld contactless digital thermometer pointed like a gun by Hoag Hospital staff members at each shopper’s head. Then came a tent where a security dog sniffed each arriving visitor.The now-familiar post-9/11 security checkpoint has now added plexiglass protection for guards and dispensed with having guests empty the contents of their pockets into a tray before walking through a metal detector. Crews were continuing to work on the cement next to one newly erected tent, cutting down the capacity for dealing with the crowds of shoppers ready to step foot on Disney property for the first time since mid-March.The crowds extended to the streets around Disneyland where those arriving by car waited at least 45 minutes to enter the Downtown Disney parking lot. By 10 a.m., Disney had “paused” parking temporarily and cars were being turned away at the Simba lot.World of Disney reopened Thursday along with more than two dozen other shops and restaurants. Disney eventually cut off the line to the flagship store and started adding shoppers to a virtual wait list with no estimate of a return time.A cast member said 1,000 people were in the snaking line to get on the virtual wait list. There was no estimate how long it would take to get on the wait list that was being handled by six cast members.Renee Hudson flew in from Las Vegas with her daughter Justine Stacks for the reopening of Downtown Disney.“We came in for the day just for this,” Hudson said.They arrived two hours before the mall reopened to be among the first in line for World of Disney so Stacks could buy more than 20 Minnie Mouse ears and Disneyland 65th anniversary collectibles.“It was worth it,” Stacks said.They will be back when Disney’s Anaheim theme parks eventually return.“We can’t wait for Disneyland to open,” Hudson said. “Tell the governor.”The mall returned with a mix of busy shops with long socially-distanced lines, closed restaurants waiting to see the response to the reopening and modified operations capable of adapting to the ever-changing environment.The remodel of the former Sanuk store into the new California Sole shoe store was still underway.Show Caption ofAmong the returning eateries as part of Thursday’s reopening: Black Tap Craft Burgers &amp; Shakes, Naples Ristorante, Earl of Sandwich, Salt &amp; Straw ice cream and two Starbucks coffee shops.Disney restricted capacity at the mall, but the walkways were still congested in places because queues stretched from the entrances of every open shop. The ends of the lines for Black Tap and Wetzel’s Pretzels intermingled.With no designated directions in the walkways, crowds mixed as they walked and social distancing was difficult to maintain in crowded areas.During the lunch rush, the wait time for the&nbsp; popular Earl of Sandwich swelled to 30 minutes. The virtual waitlist for the World of Disney was 90 minutes.Notably missing from the Downtown Disney reopening list were a number of restaurants that cater to sit-down dining: Ballast Point Brewing Co., Catal, La Brea Bakery Cafe, Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen, Splitsville Luxury Lanes and Tortilla Jo’s.Catal restaurant employees said the table-service restaurant would not reopen “for at least another month.”Black Tap kept indoor registers closed, using only the outdoor takeout window.The Splitzville location remained closed, but the outdoor dining tables in the shade filled up at lunchtime.The Lego Store line wrapped around the building and back under the monorail track — with masked shoppers seeking any shade they could find in the midday sun.The line for World of Disney at Downtown Disney (part 1)— Brady MacDonald (@bmacdonald)SEE ALSO:Reopened Disney-operated home and dress shops were joined by the Lego Store, Sephora and Curl Surf among others.The most notable missing Downtown Disney business: The Void virtual reality experience. The termination of a license agreement between Walt Disney Studios and Void VR triggered the termination of the Downtown Disney lease, according to a notice posted to the Anaheim storefront.&nbsp;A sign in the window said “this location is currently closed.” Lease termination papers were no longer posted on the door.Also gone: A number of Downtown Disney vendor kiosks currently stored in the Stitch cast member parking lot along Magic Way.SEE ALSO:By midday, crowds were much lighter near the theme parks where fans snapped selfies in front of the shuttered gates.Plexiglass has been installed on the gates of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure as well as on the turnstiles between visitors and employees. A towering crane loomed over Avengers Campus in DCA.Disney’s new Guest Experience Team will be tasked with moving throughout Downtown Disney to explain the new health and safety protocols, answer questions and enforce the mandatory mask rule.SEE ALSO:Downtown Disney operating hours during the reopening phase will be limited to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.Get the latest news delivered daily!Follow UsMost PopularClose

By | | Long lines that would put Space Mountain to shame greeted shoppers returning to Downtown Disney on Thursday morning, July 9 after a nearly four-month closure of the outdoor mall next to Disneyland.Socially distanced, mask-wearing crowds emphatically answered the question on the minds of Downtown Disney merchants: Will any shoppers come to the outdoor mall while Disneyland remains closed indefinitely?An endlessly snaking line with parties 6 feet apart wound its way from the entrance of the World of Disney store past the ticket booths, across the esplanade between the two parks, ran in...

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Long lines greet reopening of Downtown Disney

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